Female peregrine feeding 4 young at Tarentum Bridge, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
26 May 2023, Pittsburgh
Are you in town for the Memorial Day weekend and wondering how to spend the time? Visit these peregrine sites to watch young birds getting ready to fly.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh: This is the only site without eggs or young but there’s a new female, Carla, since 14 May. Carla and Ecco are courting intensively. Will this prompt her to lay eggs? Watch the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh to find out.
Female peregrine at Third Ave nest area, 18 May 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Eckert Street near McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River: Watch for the chicks to appear where the parents are standing in this photo by Jeff Cieslak. Click here for the map.
Peregrine pair at the nest, Eckert Street, 24 May 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
3 of the 4 young peregrines at Tarentum Bridge, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
24 May 2023
If you want to see young peregrine falcons just before they fly, now is the time to do it. Four youngsters at the Tarentum Bridge are ledge walking and will make their first flight soon.
Last Sunday, 21 May, Lynn Mamros photographed the family.
Peregrines at Tarentum Bridge, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
The father peregrine brought in food …
Parents bring food to Tarentum Bridge, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
… the mother peregrine plucked it …
Female peregrine preparing a meal for the chicks, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
… and then the feeding began. All four chicks are visible in most of these slides. Can you see them? (Hint: One’s on the perch.)
The youngsters are losing their fluff and will soon be completely brown.
Peregrines at Tarentum Bridge, 21 May 2023 (photo by Lynn Mamros)
And then they will fly. Don’t miss it! Visit the Tarentum Boat Ramp to see them. Click here for a map.
Just one week ago the new female peregrine, Carla, appeared on camera at the Cathedral of Learning. Since then she and the resident male, Ecco, have been courting every day, sometimes as often as 10 times a day, and Carla has shown an interest in the scrape.
Size: Male peregrines are 1/3 smaller than females. Carla is always the bigger bird as shown in photo at top. Compared to Ecco, Carla’s body is longer and she is bulkier. If only one bird is on camera, compare it to the size of the nestbox or camera view.
And now we’re ready for a quiz. See if you can identify who is who.
The more we watch Carla and Ecco the better we’ll get at identifying them.
The new female peregrine, Carla(*), has been at the Cathedral of Learning for only a few days but is quickly becoming acquainted with the territory and her new mate Ecco. Yesterday they made courtship flights around the building and bowed at the nest several times.
Though it seems late in the season to start nesting, the snapshot camera shows Carla exploring the nest and the pair’s interest in each other. (The slides repeat automatically.)
#1. Ecco calls to Carla, “Come down from the nestbox roof.” When she doesn’t, he leaves and she asks him to come bow.
Carla poses while sunbathing in front of the snapshot camera, 17 May at noon.
In Sunday’s update I explained that Morela was very ill when she disappeared last Friday and said: “If Morela is gone a new female will come to the Cathedral of Learning to be Ecco’s mate.” Well, that didn’t take long! A new female peregrine showed up at 2:00pm and displayed her bands. I already know where she came from.
Yesterday was so warm and sunny that Ecco sunbathed for 90 minutes at midday. Then at 2:00pm a new female peregrine showed up and sunbathed for half an hour. (See slideshow at end.)
As much as Morela stands at the scrape overnight at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest and as much as she crouches to lay an egg, nothing happens. This has been the case for more than for two weeks now. Every night is like this one on 27-28 April.
Ecco is solicitous. He bows with Morela several times a day, brings her food and probably mates with her though we don’t see it on camera. Ecco can tell that she’s egg-y but …
Morela’s problem is obviously physical. She may be egg bound but there’s no way to know. Whatever it is, it does not look life threatening at this moment(*).
So there are no eggs this year at the Pitt peregrine nest. I would love for Morela to prove me wrong but … Alas.
Meanwhile, if you’re starved for the sight of peregrine chicks on camera, check out these streaming cameras:
Wakefield Peregrines, UK: Chicks in the nest. This site is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (Pittsburgh).
(*) HISTORY AT THIS NEST SITE: In 2014 Dorothy was egg bound, looked very sick (photo at the link) and then passed the egg and was well enough to lay eggs the next year. As of this writing on 1 May, Morela does not look sick like Dorothy did.
Yesterday morning I was sure Morela was going to lay an egg but when Ecco brought her breakfast she left the nest for two hours. At 9:40am she tried laying again for 90 minutes but no egg. All afternoon it was Ecco on the green perch, not Morela, as you can see in the timelapse video below, 7am-7pm.
She returned to the nest at 8:22pm but did not lay last night.
This morning at 5:00am Ecco was back at his vigil on the green perch (photo at top). As of this moment (7:45am) he’s been back and forth to the perch but Morela still hasn’t come.
Ecco waits at the green perch, 24 April 2023, 7:17am
I don’t know what’s going on but it’s now so late in April that I think a challenger is unlikely.
Around 6:15am today I was sure Morela is about to lay an egg so I waited to make an announcement … but she left the nest. Still no egg. Stay tuned at the National Aviary Falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning just in case.
Meanwhile most of the region’s peregrine pairs are on eggs. This update will be brief.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh:
Ecco has been doing everything he can to prompt Morela to lay eggs, including bringing her tasty morsels for every meal. On 13 April he stored a woodcock on Dr. Alan Juffs’ air conditioning unit and returned to pick it up.
Ecco returns to pick up the American woodcock he cached outside Dr. Alan Juffs’ window (photos by Dr. Alan Juffs)
The pair bows frequently. In this photo he seems to be saying, “Please, Morela.”
This 24-hour timelapse video from 21-22 April shows how often they bow and that Morela is spending the night at the scrape. We are all … all … waiting.
Dark plumage peregrine brings food for to the nest at Third Avenue, 14 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
On 14 April Jeff Cieslak photographed a nest exchange Downtown on Third Avenue. Yes, one is still the brown bird I saw earlier in April. Jeff photographed the other one, too, and found out it’s banded. No reading on the bands yet.
Banded peregrine flies from the Third Avenue nest, 14 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Eckert Street near McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River:
Nest exchange at Eckert Street, 13 April 2023 (photos by Jeff Cieslak)
At Eckert Street Jeff photographed a nest exchange on 13 April and the male attacking a red-tailed hawk on 10 April keeping the area safe. Yup. On eggs.
Eckert male peregrine attacks a red-tailed hawk, 10 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
West End Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine at the West End Bridge, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
New peregrine site! Jeff staked out the West End Bridge until he confirmed a pair is lurking there.
Peregrine flies by the bridge abutment, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
One of the birds is banded! Again no read on the bands yet.
Banded peregrine at the West End Bridge, 7 April 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Jeff made a map of where to watch.
West End Bridge peregrine viewing (Google map marked up by Jeff Cieslak)
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek:
Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge, 16 April 2023 (photo by John English)
John English photographed a peregrine snoozing on 16 April. We think this pair is still on eggs.
Clairton Coke Works, Monongahela River:
NO PEREGRINES HERE. Last week Dana Nesiti found out that despite many checks on the quench tower no peregrines are nesting at USS Clairton Coke Works.
For all the news and sightings, check out this summary.
Young intruder female challenges Trailblazer at CVNP/I-80 nest site, 5 March 2023 (photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)
9 April 2023
After reporting on the peregrine drama last Wednesday in Downtown Pittsburgh I went there on Thursday 6 April to investigate. There were no peregrines at Gulf Tower but in just 15 minutes of watching at Third Avenue I saw two peregrines and a possible nest exchange. The departing bird was normal adult color (gray & white) and did a territorial flappy flight as it left. The arriving bird was very dark chocolate brown like the bird in Ann Hohn’s photo on 3 April.
Dark plumage peregrine at the Gulf Tower, approx 3 April 2023 (photo by Ann Hohn)
If this pair is on eggs, the arriving bird’s behavior did not match an incubating female. Instead of quietly moving to the nest the arriving bird called loudly for several minutes. It sounded like “Hey, come back!”
When I mentioned this on Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page, Jeff Cieslak remarked: “I’d say that’s pretty good news. But it does raise some questions, neither of the birds I saw on 3/3 were brown.” Here’s the peregrine pair Jeff photographed a month ago.
Female at Third Ave nest Downtown 3 Mar 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)Male peregrine at Third Ave Downtown, 3 Mar 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Correction as of early June 2023: The dark bird is not immature, just dark, and is the mother bird at Third Avenue. … The Theory below is based on incorrect information.
Aha! So the immature bird is an intruder. The quick exit of the adult bird Downtown is like Terzo’s reaction in 2016 when female intruders visited the Cathedral of Learning. Terzo always left quickly and the intruder female always remained at the nest. Adult females were silent but an immature female called loudly. (See this vintage article: Juvenile Female Intruder at Pitt on 8 April 2016.)
Why didn’t the Downtown adult peregrines attack? Peregrine falcon literature says that immature plumage protects young birds from attacks by territorial adults because they aren’t perceived as a threat. Young peregrines won’t breed until they have adult plumage at two years old(*).
… end of bad theory …
In this attack at CVNP/I-80, photographed by Chad+Chris Saladin, Chris explains that the adult male is not brutal to the one-year-old, partly because she’s female and partly because she’s immature.
Young intruder female challenges Trailblazer at CVNP/I-80 nest site, 5 March 2023 (photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)
Yet these one year-old peregrines are disrupting nests. Are they trying to claim territory? Are they thinking about nesting?
Sara Showers reminded me of an article I wrote in 2020: “A year or two ago, it was pointed out to me that one of the factors that causes falcon populations to plateau at the “carrying capacity” isn’t just a finite food supply. When populations are very high, constant competition over nesting sites can cause those contested sites to not produce chicks in a given year – restricting population growth.”
Read about the Home Wrecker phenomenon in this 2020 article, written when Ecco was the young “intruder” and nesting failed that year.
